


The Price of Freedom

by WytchDr



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Dub-con/coersion, M/M, Sex for Favors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 10:48:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3765328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WytchDr/pseuds/WytchDr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief story of how Dori, and subsequently Nori and Ori, became acquainted with and joined the company of Thorin Oakenshield.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Price of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't remember when or why I wrote this, but I found it when I went through the backup files from my old laptop when I was looking for something else entirely.
> 
> Originally I think I had intended for this to be smutty since there was definitely a paragraph or two of that but I hate writing smut (though I have tried) so I tied it up like this. I'm willing to bet I abandoned it the first time because I couldn't write the smut.
> 
> Also, if you think I need more/other tags (ie warnings of some kind) for this feel free to leave a comment.

It was usually not such a bad agreement. Dori would come to Thorin’s chambers at a predetermined time and the new King Under the Mountain was generally quite the gentleman. A light dinner, wine, fresh bed linens, and generous foreplay. Even though Dori was almost always receiving, Thorin took his time in preparing the tailor finger by finger, until the elder dwarf writhed on the mattress and begged to be taken. Thorin did not disappoint.

Nor was he entirely greedy. Sometimes, when Thorin was feeling needy or simply on special days when there was something to celebrate (or maybe because the silver-haired dwarf needed something to celebrate), Thorin would let Dori take him instead. Dori was ridiculously careful, opening him as though Thorin were a delicate virgin each and every time. Thorin always complained about the “teasing” for the amount of time Dori took using his fingers, but Thorin had to admit that never once did he feel so much as a sting when Dori finally took him. 

And that care was always rewarded- with the continued freedom of Dori’s middle brother. The agreement had been wrought in Ered Luin years ago when Nori was first sentenced to more than a year of prison as punishment for yet another theft at the tender age of seventy-two. A few weeks or months here and there and Dori had managed to put it out of his mind but this seemed so much more dangerous that Dori appealed to the king.

Thorin had smiled gently at the dwarf but shaken his head sadly, saying that there was nothing to be done. Dori again repeated his offer to do anything his highness might desire for the safety and freedom of his brother before being escorted away. 

Ori consoled his brother. Certainly, Ori reasoned, there was nothing else that could have been done if Dori hadn’t accomplished it. Dori sent the lad to bed and sat in the livingroom nursing another flagon of ale when someone knocked on the door. Dori carefully set down his drink and stumbled to the door only to find Thorin waiting outside with two guards.

Dori gaped before remembering to bow and Thorin grunted his acknowledgement. Pushing past Dori and shutting the door Thorin made himself comfortable on the divan and stared at Dori. Slowly, the tea-loving dwarf composed himself and offered a mug of ale to his guest which was politely declined.

“M-my lord,” Dori stammered as he tried to best phrase his question, still standing lamely in the middle of the livingroom. “I am honored by your presence but I do not understand. You- you said you could do nothing, I understand that. Why waste your time in coming here?”

Thorin stared at the stronger dwarf intently. “I wanted to know how far you were willing to go to secure the wellbeing of your brother.”

Dori stared blankly. Thorin could not possibly be propositioning him. Not Dori. Not a tailor. No noble blood, no money, not even any family left besides his brothers. “As far I need to,” he finally answered.

The king reached into his coat and pulled out a stoppered vial, setting on the coffee table.

“Are you sure that you mean that?”

Dori stared at the vial. He knew what was in it without asking. Vials like that were mass produced and sold in every market. They each contained the same thing- oil. There was no doubt in Dori’s mind anymore as to the implication- only disbelief. While the tailor was fastidious in his grooming he did not fancy himself comely. Thorin, on the other hand, thought otherwise.

Dori nodded his head.

“If you agree I must hear you say it. I will not do this if you cannot bring yourself to speak the words as I have no wish to take you against your will.”

Dori remained mute. How could he be expected to agree? And how did Thorin think that this was anything other than forcing him? But the opportunity to help his brother remained and Dori would not waste it.

“Yes. I will do this.”

“Very well.”

Thorin’s deep blue eyes were piercing and Dori looked away, unable to meet his gaze as the king rose from the divan and approached the auburn haired dwarf. A rough hand, calloused from years of training and hard work in the forges, gently cupped Dori’s jaw and he looked up. Dori knew he should be doing something but he just wasn’t sure what. 

Thorin saw the nervousness and apprehension and smiled. “To your bedchamber then?”

Dori mumbled for a second before swallowing. “My little brother, he’s asleep across the hall. I don’t want to wake him.” 

“Is there somewhere more private, then?”

Dori shook his head, still struggling to find words. “Our house is small, my lord.”

Thorin nodded. “One of my guards will stay here with your brother if you wish it, while we retire to my home.”

“Th-thank you. I think it would be for the best to have someone here if he should wake. Ori is only forty-nine.”

“Of course. May I ask, Master Dori, how old are you if you have such a young brother?”

Dori blushed for some reason he could not define and stared at his bare feet. “Ninety-two.”

Thorin seemed pleased by this answer, and Dori wondered if Thorin had worried he was not of age. Thorin clapped Dori on the shoulder and went to retrieve a guard from outside. While Dori put on his socks and laced his boots the mohawked dwarf from Thorin’s court came in and unceremoniously sat on the divan, putting his boots on the coffee table.

If Ori had done that Dori would have hauled him outside by the ear and given him a thorough thrashing with the nearest switch. Instead, Dori turned his head away from the brutish looking thug and finished tightening his boot laces.

Thorin had replaced the vial in his coat pocket and waited patiently by the door. Dori followed obediently and soon they were entering the palace through a little used private door. Even being a dwarf, the twists and turns of the halls to the royal chambers were dizzying and Dori quickly gave up trying to remember their path. He hoped that whatever Thorin intended, he would not find the need to run for surely he would never find his way out again.

The guard stopped at a guarded door and opened it for the king. Two more guards waited within and they passed into the corridor once Thorin and his guest were safely within.

Thorin banked the fire and snuffed all but two torches. Dori, unsure of his welcome, stood awkwardly where he was left.

“You can hang up your coat over there,” Thorin said pointing to a series of coat hooks bolted to the wall, “and go ahead and take your shoes off.”

When Dori had complied he returned to stand in the same place he had before. Thorin was pulling his socks off when noticed and simply laughed. “Come. Sit. I understand your trepidation but I assure you that our arrangement will not be an unpleasant one.”

Dori found himself in a plush wingback chair in front of the hearth. Thorin drank water from a cup and stared into the fire, glancing periodically at the other. Dori could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise when Thorin turned to look at him and grew increasingly afraid that his inaction would displease the king and end the arrangement before it even began.

“What would you like me to do for you, sire?” Dori managed to choke out.

Thorin smiled warmly, almost invitingly, and Dori somehow felt some of his fears begin to lessen. Without speaking, the raven haired king came to stand in front of Dori and leaned down for a kiss. Dori felt the rasp of Thorin’s beard again his lips and tried to kiss back but couldn’t seem to find a technique that worked. After a particularly awkward minute Thorin pulled away and smirked.

“Out of practice?” he joked.

Dori shook his head and looked down, “I am craft-wedded, my lord.”

Thorin’s eyes grew wide. “Craft-wedded? You’ve never so much as kissed before have you?”

Dori shook his head again, still looking down.

“And you are sure that you want to go through with this?” Thorin was not above manipulating someone to get them into bed but knowing now of Dori’s inexperience he was not so sure that the other dwarf was entirely consenting, or even if he could be if he knew so little.

Dori nodded again and then remembered that Thorin expected him to speak. “Yes. I am still sure.”

“You realize that I intend to take you, that your first time will be given as payment for your brother rather than with a lover?” Thorin pressed. There would be no misunderstanding regarding this. 

“I am craft-wedded. There would never have been a first time.”

Thorin nodded. “I hope that your brother values you as he should. Few have family so loyal as you.”

“Thank you,” Dori muttered, both pleased and angered at the praise. 

\-----

The walk back to his home was uncomfortable for more than one reason. Thorin bade the tailor goodnight and stayed in his chambers while the other guard who had collected him earlier in the evening escorted him back. Dori knew that the guard was most likely aware of the nature his visit and that if he weren't that his obviously stiff gait more than explained it. The embarrassment of that alone was enough to prevent Dori from attempting speech.

The guard who had remained to watch Ori was still seated on the divan when Dori unlocked the door. He looked up and rose to make for the door.

"Be seeing you soon," he quipped as he passed Dori.

Dori turned to face him so quickly that he wrenched his neck. "I was informed that tonight was a one time event."

The guards both laughed and the one with the mohawk stopped short of the door. "Oh aye, tonight paid for your brother's freedom... this time. But how do you think he'll get out next time? Or the time after that? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted for tonight to be the end of this endeavor but you might want to train up your brother a bit better if you expect to stay that way."

The dwarf turned and walked away, calling over his shoulder, "G'evening Master Dori."

As Dori stood alone in his livingroom staring at the freshly closed door he knew that somehow this arrangement, as it were, would one day complicate his life in unforeseen ways. But at that moment, aching and spent, Dori didn't much care and he stumbled to his bed secure in the knowledge that, for now, his brothers were safe.


End file.
